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  • The Second Machine Age

  • Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies
  • By: Erik Brynjolfsson, Andrew McAfee
  • Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
  • Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (53 ratings)

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The Second Machine Age

By: Erik Brynjolfsson, Andrew McAfee
Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
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Publisher's Summary

Audie Award, Judges' Award: Science & Technology, 2015

A revolution is under way.

In recent years, Google’s autonomous cars have logged thousands of miles on American highways and IBM’s Watson trounced the best human Jeopardy! players. Digital technologies — with hardware, software, and networks at their core — will in the near future diagnose diseases more accurately than doctors can, apply enormous data sets to transform retailing, and accomplish many tasks once considered uniquely human. In The Second Machine Age MIT’s Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee — two thinkers at the forefront of their field — reveal the forces driving the reinvention of our lives and our economy. As the full impact of digital technologies is felt, we will realize immense bounty in the form of dazzling personal technology, advanced infrastructure, and near-boundless access to the cultural items that enrich our lives. Amid this bounty will also be wrenching change. Professions of all kinds — from lawyers to truck drivers — will be forever upended. Companies will be forced to transform or die. Recent economic indicators reflect this shift: Fewer people are working, and wages are falling even as productivity and profits soar.

Drawing on years of research and up-to-the-minute trends, Brynjolfsson and McAfee identify the best strategies for survival and offer a new path to prosperity. These include revamping education so that it prepares people for the next economy instead of the last one, designing new collaborations that pair brute processing power with human ingenuity, and embracing policies that make sense in a radically transformed landscape. A fundamentally optimistic audiobook, The Second Machine Age will alter how we think about issues.

©2014 Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

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  • Mrs
  • 17-07-2021

2014 is a long time ago for a book about new tech

Didn’t realise this was an old book from 2014 looking at tech from a time before the major breakthroughs seen in the last five to ten years. Well written and presented but miss represented and regret the purchase.

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outstanding

Possibly the best book in its class. It's deconstructs recent history and highly plausible future developments in technology in a very easy to understand format. Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how the future will be shaped.

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Great read, but lacked the wow factor

The book is a great introduction to the future of work and how AI is shaping many aspects of work and life. good narration and easy to follow structure make it an enjoyable read/listen overall.
however, I didn't get the wow factor I was hoping for. To be fair, that's the challenge with technology. what was amazing a few years ago such as driverless cars and machine learning are topics that are increasingly familiar to most. so, I wouldn't hold that against the book, there are many well researched topics and views that make it a worthwhile read

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It's a keeper!

Where does The Second Machine Age rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I've just reached the Pro reader level and I've got a long way to go before I'm finished, if ever. I rate this book in my top 3 so far. I highly recommend this book!

What other book might you compare The Second Machine Age to, and why?

The only similar book that I've listened to (another top 3) is The Fourth Industrial Revolution by Klaus Schwab. Both books don't pretend to have all the answers and makes one want to research more of the same.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

I like how the authors can see the evolution that may be.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

If I had had the time I would have. One day I will find that time and listen all the way through.

Any additional comments?

Just get it and listen, the wider this spreads the better for all.

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Good insights but a bit slow

The main ideia is great and the information gives great insight but the book goes a bit slow sometimes being repetitive over the machine evolution... Worth the read but not really great.

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